I have had my sugar glider for a little over two weeks. She will not let me take her out of her cage. She takes treats from me and I feed her with a suring or a spoon. If I try to touch her or get to close she crabs and lunges at me to bite me. I would really like some advice on how to get her out of her cage and be able to bond with her. Please help me

I'm not exactly sure of your method of feeding with a syringe? Usually this is reserved for feeding and giving meds to a sick glider. I'm interesting as to what she's eating from the syringe.

2 weeks is early, very early in the bonding process.

Are you trying to take her out only after she is awake at night? It takes a long while of just being by her cage and getting her used to you before reaching in to try to remove her. You may be able to take her pouch out gently while she is asleep in the daytime for an hour or so, but not really wake her up.

Have you done scent swapping with your clothing, etc.?

Also, how old is she?

The pet store I bought her from told me to spoon feed and feed her with a syringe to get her use to me and trust me. I did put a shirt in her cage that I slept in. I have tried and all different times to take her out. She is only 10 weeks out of the pouch.

Patience young jedi =P

I would say the spoon and syringe feeding are unnecessary. It may even be more stressful for her to have to rely at the early stage for her food not being available to her in a bowl with her own privacy.

Pet stores are known for not having very good advice, if any, on gliders. They may not even be accurate about her age. Do you have a weight for her?

What diet is she on?

There are some things to consider with bonding being further down on the priority list in the first couple weeks. That comes with much time and patience.

She will need a buddy at some point, but let's try to address some of the other issues first. Can you fill us in on some things, maybe a picture of her, her sleeping/waking routine. Diet. Cage specifics. Thanks! It will help her and you a lot to get off on the right foot.

My female would not let us near her for at least 2 weeks. We just sat patiently talking to her outside her cage. When she started coming near our hands and climbing on them is when we decided to try taking her out of the cage. It was probably 3 weeks before she was out of the cage and now she loves it. We take both gliders who are now housed together out in the sleeping pouch about a half hour before they wake up. Patience, she is still very new. As far as feeding, she probably would do better with just a plate or bowl on her own. I have dollar store kid plates that are divided into three sections.

She does have a bowl for her dry food mix. Which is a bunch of different foods including dried meal worms. She also has a bowl with her liquid which I also feed her from the spoon and syringe. The liquid is fruit punch Gatorade kerns juice strawberry banana yogurt and the powder that has all the vitamins and stuff she needs. I talk to her all the time at her cage. She comes up to me in her cage. She nibbles and grabs my fingers. It's just a different story if I try the same thing with my hand on her cage. She has a big two story cage. She has toys a couple pouches. She also has a water bottle and a couple food bowls in her cage.

Also I bought her from pet kingdom in Vegas. It is an exotic pet store. The girls that work in that store are awesome. They all have a few gilders of their own. I will get another one for her to have her friend in the future. I didn't want to get two to start off with. She is the first one that I have had. Wanted to take it one step at a time

It will help so much if you get a bonding pouch (zipper pouch with a screen and a strap so you can wear it around your neck) and wear her on you every day for at least a couple of hours a day. This will help get her used to your scent and your voice. Only do this during her sleeping hours. Don't be upset if she never wants you to pick her up. I have three who are very bonded to me, but only one will allow me to actually wrap my fingers around her and pick her up. Most don't like it.
Be sure you have her on a good diet. Many pet stores and others like "Pocket Pets" recommend feeding pellets, but pellets are not going to give a glider the nutrition he or she requires to maintain a healthy life. You will really need to choose a good "staple diet" for your little one. I feed my three little ones Glider Kids staple diet #4, but there are several others out there to choose from as well. You will feed fruits and vegetables along with the staple diet so take into consideration the calcium/phosphorus ratios in f. & v. as well as oxalate levels.
If you haven't done so already, you need to get her a Well Baby Check-Up by an exotic vet to be sure she has no parasites, giardia, etc... Gliders hide their illnesses very well and can become very sick very fast so a check up is a must!
It would be beneficial to your little one to have a companion. I initially adopted just one glider before realizing they do better (the majority of them)when they have a companion (or two or more). This will require a vet visit for the added glider, 30 day quarantine & introduction should you decide to get her a friend.
Patience is a must. Don't expect her to bond with you immediately. Some move quickly and some move very slowly. You need to keep in mind that to her... you are nothing less than a giant predator. She will have to learn to trust you. Be patient with her, talk softly to her while she's in the bonding pouch. Pet her through the pouch while talking with her. She may crab and lunge at first, but eventually (on her time) she (and her companion;)) will learn to trust and love you as you do her.
Best of luck
Terri

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She does have a bowl for her dry food mix. Which is a bunch of different foods including dried meal worms. She also has a bowl with her liquid which I also feed her from the spoon and syringe. The liquid is fruit punch Gatorade kerns juice strawberry banana yogurt and the powder that has all the vitamins and stuff she needs.

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Please take some time to learn more about your glider's nutritional needs.

Fruit Punch Gatorade contains added sugar and FOOD COLORING that gliders do not need and long term could cause health issues for her.

I am not sure which 'powder that has the vitamins and stuff' she needs is referring. Sprinkling a random amount of any type of vitamin supplement on foods is more likely to overdose your glider than to provide the appropriate amount.

Dry pellet foods sold by most pet stores will NOT provide the nutrients your glider needs to remain healthy.

There are a number of widely used glider feeding plans that you might consider. These have been used for over 5 years and maintain healthy gliders long term. I have links on my web page to several widely used feeding plans and my own GliderKids feeding plan.

These diets have a nectar like staple that provides the protein, vitamins and calcium your glider needs. The staple is fed with a wide variety of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables each evening. Look at the information and choose one you would like to use for your glider. Ask questions if you need help making a choice.

http://www.gliderkids-diet.com/Staple-Recipes.html

Until you choose a diet for your glider you can feed plain scrambled or hard boiled egg or plain cooked chicken or plain baby food chicken for protein. About 1 tbs protein plus 1 TBS fruit and 1 TBS vegetables each night.

Never feed gliders anything with onion, garlic, leeks, rhubarb or chocolate.

Please feel free to ask questions we are here to help you.

As for bonding - your glider needs to learn to trust you. Be patient. Talk to her when ever you are near the cage and always say something before opening the cage door or touching her pouch so she will know it is you.

I give her fruit. She loves yogurt drops. I also wanted to know are there any foods that I should not give her. I know dogs can't have grapes. Are grapes ok to give them. Do you have any advice on how to take her out of her cage to put her in her bonding pouch with out her biting me. The pouches she has in her cage aren't really ones to take out with her in them. I ordered one off amazon that I will be able to take out of the cage with her in it. It just hasn't arrived yet. She is kind of a picky eater. She doesn't care for strawberries or hard boiled eggs. She likes strawberrie and mixed berry yogurt drops just won't eat the fresh ones.

Grapes are a touchy subject. Some don't feed them at all to gliders and some do. I do very infrequently just because they LOVE them.

Try and lure her in with some treats into the bonding pouch. That's how I get my female in hers. She doesn't like it at all so I usually don't put her in.

Gliders are very picky. One minute they love something and the next minute they hate. They hate hard boiled eggs but once and a while when I run out of their staple (OHPW) and I'm too lazy to make a batch, they get a suggie omlet with some veggies and they love that. Their plates are licked clean almost like there was never any food on them.

The food I feed her with the Gatorade is sugar glider nectar gourmet blend and the dry is sugar glider pellet blend which has dried fruit and vegetables in it.

Never feed gliders anything with onion, garlic, leeks, rhubarb or chocolate.

She can have grapes in moderation. Some folks choose to not use them because of the issues in dogs, but I have not seen anyone report problems with gliders that have eaten grapes.

She needs vegetables also in addition to the fruit.

The yogurt drops are a treat only and have no nutritional value. Use them very sparingly so you do not cut into her appetite for the foods she does need to eat.

You can use small pieces of her fruit or vegetables as treats as well and not spoil her appetite.

Do either of these products have an actual ingredient list?

They appear to be items bought in bulk and repackages and relabeled to be sold as glider foods.

Gliders get most of their need for fluids met by eating the juicy parts of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. Their digestive systems are NOT designed to digest hard dry foods.

It doesn't have ingredients on it. The girls at the store I got her from said that was what they feed theirs. I have tried baby food and she won't eat it. I put fresh fruits and veggies in her cage and she won't touch them. She sniffs them and walks away.

Keep putting the fruits and veggies in there without the pellets, if they are hungry, they will eat them. If fruits and vegs are new to them, it's like new food to you, youre reluctant to try it but when you do, you realize that most is good. Give them a variety of f&v and see what their favs are. Mine love celery carrots strawberrys and blueberries. They all have differnt palates. And get them on a staple diet. You can find tons of recipies on these forums. I use HPW complete. Along w fresh fruits and vegs. They love it.

This is what the powder is. Honey, Eggs, Wombaroo High Protein Supplement, Bee Pollen, Flax Seed Oil & Omega 6 & 3 Fatty Acids. It is the hpw diet just mixed with yogurt kerns juice and Gatorade.

I'd use water to mix it, not Gatorade. As was previously mentioned, Gatorade had added sugar and food coloring, no bueno for suggies.

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Honey, Eggs, Wombaroo High Protein Supplement, Bee Pollen, Flax Seed Oil & Omega 6 & 3 Fatty Acids.

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This sounds like the pet store has REPACKAGED Exotic Nutrition's Instant HPW.


Mix it with Water ONLY. Do not add gatorade or any type of juice. The Instant HPW is already loaded with sugar from the powdered honey. If you add more sugar from gatorade or juice your gliders will have NO APPETITE for the fruits and vegetables necessary to complete the overall feeding.

Here is an update. I found out she loves blueberries and red raspberries. She also loves squash and carrots. I have been blending the food up for her instead of cutting into small pieces. Kinda like I am making baby food all over again lol. I was able to pick her up in one of her pouches last night without her crabbing and trying to bite me. She laid there and let me rub her head back and belly thru the pouch and didn't freak out on me. Thank you everyone for all your advice and help. I appreciate it so much. I feel like I am making progress.

Glad to hear that things are improving for you and your baby. I discovered that blending their fruits and veggies is the only way that mine will eat all that they need. You can freeze the mixture into an icecube tray and give her a cube a night so you're not constantly chopping and blending. Mine actually prefer their little popsicles haha

For mine when I started the bonding process I took out her pouch while she was sleeping in the day time and I would massage her body through the pouch while she was asleep and talking with her gently and reassuring her that everything was alright before you know it I was able to put my whole hand in the pouch and pet her without her crabbing at me or biting me it will happen be patient !

Sam13 do you blend the fruits and veggies together? I have been doing them separate and in different bowls. I wasn't sure if she would like all together. She now sticks her head out of her pouch when she hears my voice. She is starting to come around. She is in my oldest sons room so she is also bonding with him. He loves to sit and watch her play in her cage. I got her a rope that goes from one side of the cage to the other. She loves it. I love to sit at night and just watch her play in her cage. Sometimes I think she shows off for me. She always comes over to make sure I'm watching her lol.

I do blend them together because mine seem to take after me and not want to eat their veggies haha it's amazing to see their little heads pop up when they see you and then come over to say hi, and to get a yogi of course ;) does the rope you have in their have little fiberS sticking free from it? I've read some pretty horrific stories where a suggie has lost a toe due to getting caught in the fibers.

It's a soft fabric rope. I bought it in the bird section. No little fibers. I will try and mix the veggies and fruit and see if she likes that better. I noticed she did eat her fruit better than the veggies lol.

It's a soft fabric rope. I bought it in the bird section.

The bird ropes are tightly wound and probably OK for your glider for a short time. Gliders do like to pee on the ropes to mark them as they walk along and it will begin to smell awful in a short time.

Another option is a plastic chain - which can be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot. Gliders can run along the chain but since it is plastic it will not permanently absorb the odor as the fabric rope will.